The young man's strong, firm arms braced on either side of her thighs, his body slightly bent.
Under the phone's light, his dark eyes fixed on her, bright and earnest.
Wen Tingxue: "..."
"Or, brother can give you a kiss."
Wen Tingxue: "............"
"If neither of those work, then listen to brother explain what happened on Saturday, alright?"
With her eyes cast down, Wen Tingxue couldn't see his expression.
She could only discern his helplessness and almost humble plea from his tone.
Her heart softened slightly, and she said sarcastically, "What's there to explain? Didn't you go find Tong Jiayi?"
"What?"
Yu Wenli tilted his head, as if he'd heard something absurd.
Wen Tingxue suddenly looked up, "You didn't go find her? It wasn't her who called you?"
She asked rapidly, her heart suddenly pounding.
She seemed to have guessed something, but wasn't entirely sure.
"No."
Yu Wenli quickly answered, and at the same time took out his phone, bringing up the call log.
"It was Jiahe who called me then."
He handed her the phone to see.
It was indeed around that time, and there was only one call.
"Then... Yu Jie said you went to find..."
Mid-sentence, Wen Tingxue realized, she had been tricked!
But how could Tong Jiayi have calculated it so accurately?
Wen Tingxue suddenly recalled Monday evening after school, when they were discussing when to go see a movie. Tong Jiayi must have overheard...
"What did Yu Jie say to you?" Yu Wenli asked, his tone a little cold.
Wen Tingxue didn't hide anything, and told him about the phone call and the scar by her eye.
Yu Wenli tightened his jaw and asked in a low voice, "You believed her?"
"..."
Wen Tingxue meekly shrunk her neck. "I didn't entirely believe it... but the situation was special at the time..."
Recalling being abandoned, the young girl's voice suddenly rose.
"You gave her the opportunity! You left me at the cinema to watch the entire movie."
If that hadn't happened first, how could she have believed Yu Jie's words!
"..."
Yu Wenli was silent for a moment. The anger that had gathered instantly dissipated, and he even felt like laughing.
Okay.
From biting his neck to fighting back quickly, there was progress.
At least she wasn't sulking in anger.
"Yes, brother was wrong. Brother apologizes to you. I'm sorry, brother shouldn't have left you at the cinema for so long. How about this..."
Yu Wenli bent down further, his face close to hers, and said, "You can pick a few spots and bite. Brother will absolutely not resist."
Wen Tingxue: "..."
Did she think she was a dog?
So fond of biting people?!
"Don't think you can forgive me just like that."
The young girl pushed his face away with mock anger, almost being won over by his charm.
"You'd better hurry up and tell me about Saturday."
The young girl crossed her arms, her little face stern, looking every bit like she was demanding an explanation.
Her wide, almond-shaped eyes were filled with six words: Don't think you can get away with it!
Yu Wenli resisted the urge to pinch her little face and chuckled, saying,
"I really thought I could go and come back quickly then. I didn't expect the police to show up. Otherwise, I would have definitely sent you a message."
Upon hearing "police," Wen Tingxue immediately became nervous. "What exactly happened?"
How did it involve the police station?
Actually, what happened that day wasn't complicated; it was just a coincidence.
Xing Jiahe's video of him beating up a hooligan was seen by his nemesis.
They then traced it back to Xu Ke Xin, and those people went to find Xu Ke Xin.
To teach Xing Jiahe a lesson.
Xing Jiahe received the news and, fearing he wouldn't arrive in time and Xu Ke Xin would be wronged, called Yu Wenli first.
Yu Wenli was closer, and thought it wasn't a big deal, so he rushed over first.
He just didn't expect the police to suddenly raid Xu Ke Xin's workplace, catching a group of people fighting and taking everyone away.
His phone was confiscated on the spot.
By the time he got it back, he could no longer reach her by phone.
"So, you went to fight that day?" Wen Tingxue was a little angry. "Then why didn't you just say so?"
Was she that unreasonable!
Yu Wenli shook his head. "I didn't intend to fight. I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to worry about Xu Ke Xin.
"I didn't bring you along because I didn't want you to go to a place like that."
The place where Xu Ke Xin worked the night shift was the most chaotic KTV in Jiangcheng, where all sorts of businesses were conducted.
The only good thing was the high salary.
Wen Tingxue pointed at the knife wound on his wrist, gritting her teeth.
"And you call this 'not wanting to fight'?"
Yu Wenli glanced faintly at the wound and said, "It was an accident."
Wen Tingxue was exasperated but didn't dwell on it, as it had already happened.
"You should fight less in the future. It's no good."
The young girl took his wrist and gently blew on the wound, complaining, "Why didn't you treat it?"
"Waiting for you to worry about me."
Wen Tingxue immediately raised her eyelids to glare at him. Yu Wenli smiled and begged for mercy, "Don't be angry, I really wasn't in the mood."
"You're not allowed to do this again in the future," the young girl said sternly. "No matter what the situation, you must treat your wounds properly."
"Okay," the young man agreed gently.
Wen Tingxue's heart stirred, and she raised her hand, tracing the shallow scar in the dim light.
"Can you tell me... what exactly happened?"
"Do you believe Yu Jie?" Yu Wenli asked, not answering.
Wen Tingxue obediently shook her head. "Actually, I don't really believe her..."
"Meaning, you still half-believed her, right?" His tone held a hint of disappointment.
Wen Tingxue bit her lip in tacit agreement.
Yu Wenli's shoulders slumped as he lowered his head, gently touching her forehead with his. He said with a mixture of helplessness and self-reproach:
"Am I not trustworthy enough? Or, is the sense of security I give you still not enough?"
"No!"
Wen Tingxue denied it instinctively. After regaining her composure, she slowly added, "It's not like that..."
The young man looked up, his dark eyes filled with hope.
"Then what is it like?" he pressed, his voice very soft.
Wen Tingxue looked down and fiddled with her fingers, somewhat reluctant to answer.
Yu Wenli waited with extreme patience, as if he wouldn't be satisfied without an answer.
They remained in this stalemate for an unknown amount of time.
Finally, the young girl couldn't bear it any longer and said, "...It's not that you're not good enough, it's that I'm not confident enough."
Her voice was low and hoarse, as if she had returned to how she was when they first met.
Reserved.
Timid.
Uncommunicative.
Yu Wenli frowned. "Is it because of what Tong Jiayi said to you?"
"How did you know?" Wen Tingxue looked up in astonishment.
Yu Wenli smiled, his smile a little cold. "Is there anything in Jiangcheng First High School that I don't know?"
Wen Tingxue: "..."
Wen Tingxue looked down. "What she said is the truth."
It was a truth she had been avoiding but could never ignore.
Otherwise, how could Tong Jiayi have found an opportunity?
In the end, she was simply not confident in herself.
And Tong Jiayi had seized upon this lack of confidence.
The phone call, the departure, the fight, the injury, the lost contact.
She had calculated it all, and then deliberately fed her false information.
If she had just been more confident, she wouldn't have believed their lies.
Instead, she would have gone directly to ask Yu Wenli.
Of course, the disappearance of the duck was more like a cruel joke played by fate.
It caused her reason to completely collapse, leaving him no chance for even the last bit of explanation.
"What truth?"
Yu Wenli cupped her face in his hands, staring into her eyes, and said word by word:
"I don't acknowledge it, nor do I care. I just like you, Wen Tingxue, and it has nothing to do with whether you have any special skills or if you're pretty. Do you understand?"